The Republican Party has painted Joe Biden's exit in apocalyptic terms

A scene from the ad. RNC/YouTube/screengrab The national Republican Party released a new video Wednesday that claimed Democrats' chances in 2016 have now tanked because of Vice President Joe Biden's decision to not run for president. He made the announcement earlier in the day.

Biden hype peaked as a potential Clinton alternative in part because of the Clinton campaign's difficult summer, during which she was battered by story after story about her controversial email practices at the State Department.

But with his potential campaign now off the table, Clinton is the clear favorite for the nomination. And her chief primary rival is US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), whose embrace of democratic-socialist ideology also raises general-election concerns.

On the other hand, it's possible Biden's strong performance in matchups against the Republican field was due to the fact that he was not in the middle of the 2016 turmoil. Had Biden joined the race, he, too, would be facing additional scrutiny from the media and his opponents.